[WSMDiscuss] Biden Vows to Curb US Support for Saudi-Led War on Yemen

Fri Feb 5 09:44:45 CET 2021

Yemen has been among the biggest tragedies of the first half of the 21 st
Century OZA  94442-16627 Chennai India

On Fri, 5 Feb 2021 at 06:57, Estelle Fein <leef at cruzio.com> wrote:

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> FINALLY
> Some hope about ending the tragedy of Yemen
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> On Feb 4, 2021, at 5:10 PM, Brian K Murphy <brian at radicalroad.com> wrote:
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> https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/02/04/day-peace-activists-have-been-waiting-biden-vows-curb-us-support-saudi-led-war-yemen
>
> 'A Day Peace Activists... Have Been Waiting For': Biden Vows to Curb US
> Support for Saudi-Led War on Yemen*"This decision is the result of years
> of activism from Yemeni Americans and grassroots activists all over the
> world. Congrats to lovers of peace everywhere who know #YemenCantWait."*
> Kenny Stancil, staff writer <http:///author/kenny-stancil-staff-writer>   |
> Common Dreams News
>
> Peace advocates rejoiced on Thursday in the wake of President Joe Biden's
> announcement that his administration will be ending U.S. support for
> "offensive operations" in the Saudi-led war on Yemen
> <https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/11/30/moral-and-legal-obligation-80-groups-urge-biden-end-us-complicity-saudi-led-assault>
> and appointing a diplomatic envoy to help resolve the devastating conflict
> that has caused <https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/12/1078972> an
> estimated 233,000 deaths.
>
> "This war has to end," Biden said
> <https://thehill.com/policy/defense/537346-biden-to-announce-end-to-us-support-for-offensive-operations-in-yemen>during
> an address at the State Department. "And to underscore our commitment, we
> are ending all American support for offensive operations in the war in
> Yemen, including relevant arm sales."
>
> Biden also named
> <https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/02/04/biden-taps-career-diplomat-as-envoy-to-yemen/>
> Timothy Lenderking as his special envoy to Yemen, saying the career foreign
> service officer will collaborate with the United Nations and "all parties
> to the conflict to push for a diplomatic resolution."
>
> "It's about time that the U.S. end all complicity in the Saudi/UAE-led war
> on Yemen, with at least 100,000 dead and tens of millions on the brink of
> starvation," Paul Kawika Martin, senior director of policy and political
> affairs at Peace Action, said
> <https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2021/02/04/biden-harris-end-support-yemen-war-ngos-demand-end-all-arms-sales-and-increased>
>  Thursday.
>
> Danaka Katovich, Yemen campaign coordinator at the anti-war
> group CodePink, described
> <https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2021/02/04/codepink-applauds-bidens-decision-end-us-support-war-yemen>Thursday
> as "a day peace activists around the world have been waiting for. On the
> campaign trail, President Biden said he would end support for the war in
> Yemen, and I hope he keeps that promise to the fullest extent."
>
> As Medea Benjamin, CodePink's co-founder, pointed out on social media,
> White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the Biden
> administration's cessation of U.S. support for offensive operations in
> Yemen will include "an end to precision-guided munition sales," which have
> contributed to the massive civilian death toll.
>
> While the Biden administration's "decision to stop U.S. support for
> 'offensive operations' by Saudi Arabia is critically important," said
> <https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2021/02/04/statement-announced-end-us-support-saudi-military-offensive-yemen>David
> Segal, co-founder and executive director of Demand Progress, "we must learn
> more about how 'offensive operations' are defined—and ensure that Biden's
> plans entail ending targeting support, spare parts transfers, and other
> logistical support, both known and unknown to the general public."
>
> As for the White House's appointment of Lenderking, Martin said the new
> special envoy to Yemen "can push Saudi Arabia and the UAE to change its
> conduct and negotiate in good faith to end their war on Yemen and allow
> humanitarian aid to flow."
>
>
> *"We must learn more about how 'offensive operations' are defined—and
> ensure that Biden's plans entail ending targeting support, spare parts
> transfers, and other logistical support."—David Segal, Demand Progress*
>
> Martin added that Peace Action wants "to make sure the details include
> stopping all support and blocking all arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the
> UAE."
>
> Concerns about the fine-print were shared by Segal, who said the Biden
> administration should show Thursday's announcement "carries serious weight
> by immediately canceling the pending arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the
> UAE, both of which have proven they cannot be entrusted with billions of
> dollars of advanced U.S. weaponry," as well as by Philippe Nassif, Amnesty
> International's advocacy director for the Middle East and North Africa.
>
> "As the conflict in Yemen enters its seventh year, it is vital for the
> United States to commit to prioritizing the safety of civilians in the
> country," said
> <https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2021/02/04/biden-ends-support-conflict-yemen-arms-flows-must-also-be-stopped>Nassif.
> "Central to these efforts will be stopping the flow of arms from the United
> States into situations where they will be used to commit war crimes and
> grave human rights violations."
>
> While "halting the sale of precision-guided munitions is the first big
> step," Nassif added, "the human tragedy of United States arms sales is
> immense pain and suffering inflicted on civilians in Yemen that must not be
> continued to be swept aside, and crimes committed with arms sold by the
> United States must be investigated."
>
> Calling Biden's announcement a "historic win," peace activists at Just
> Foreign Policy (JFP) echoed those at Peace Action and Amnesty, emphasizing
> <https://twitter.com/justfp/status/1357377288690495491> that "advocates
> will need to ensure that [halting U.S. participation in offensive
> operations in Yemen] includes all unconstitutional support for the war."
>
> In a Twitter thread
> <https://twitter.com/justfp/status/1357377288690495491>, Just Foreign
> Policy shared a timeline depicting nearly six years of advocacy that began
> in early May 2015, just weeks after the U.S. joined the war in Yemen.
>
> As JFP explained, Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), and
> Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) as well as former Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.) in
> October 2017 introduced
> <https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/10/opinion/yemen-war-unconstitutional.html>
> the first War Powers Resolution that would require the U.S. to end its
> participation in the war on constitutional grounds.
>
>
> *"The human tragedy of U.S. arms sales is immense pain and suffering
> inflicted on civilians in Yemen that must not be continued to be swept
> aside, and crimes committed with arms sold by the U.S. must be
> investigated."—Philippe Nassif, Amnesty International*
>
> That measure was blocked
> <https://khanna.house.gov/media/in-the-news/congress-recognizes-slams-unauthorized-american-war-yemen-bipartisan-resolution>
> by congressional leaders, but it led to a compromise resolution that
> acknowledged for the first time that U.S. support for the war on Yemen had
> never been authorized by Congress.
>
> In December 2018, the Senate passed
> <https://www.npr.org/2018/12/12/676152310/senate-poised-to-vote-to-end-u-s-military-support-for-war-in-yemen>
> for the first time in its history a War Powers Resolution. The effort, led
> by Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), and Chris Murphy
> (D-Conn.), directed former President Donald Trump to end the country's
> participation in the war.
>
> Khanna and Massie introduced another War Powers Resolution in the lower
> chamber as well, but then-House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) refused
> <https://thehill.com/policy/defense/420935-house-republicans-move-to-block-yemen-war-powers-votes-for-rest-of-congress>to
> allow a vote on the measure.
>
> Nevertheless, Sanders and Khanna persisted, passing another War Powers
> Resolution through both chambers in April 2019. This time, however, Trump vetoed
> <https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/16/us/politics/trump-veto-yemen.html>the
> measure, "with opposition inside the administration led by murderous
> extremists," including then-National Security Adviser John Bolton and
> then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, JFP noted.
>
> In November 2020, "as the Trump administration announced
> <https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/trump-administration-yemen-houthi-rebels-terrorism/2020/11/20/249ed812-2a6d-11eb-b847-66c66ace1afb_story.html>
> their intent to knowingly exacerbate the famine by labeling Houtis as
> terrorists, Reps. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), Debbie
> Dingell (D-Mich.), Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), Joaquin Castro (D-Texas), Francis
> Rooney (R-Fla.), and Pocan and Khanna announced another new War Powers
> Resolution," JFP continued.
>
> In a statement released Thursday, Sanders called
> <https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/02/04/bernie-sanders-says-biden-decision-yemen-tribute-so-many-activists-over-years>
> Biden's cessation of U.S. support for offensive operations in the Saudi-led
> war on Yemen and his naming of a diplomatic envoy "to help resolve this
> conflict and bring aid and reconstruction... important steps, and a tribute
> to the work of so many activists over the years."
>
>
> *"The U.S. must cease involvement in the Saudi-led de-facto blockade of
> Yemen that has helped push millions of Yemenis to the brink of starvation
> [and] should also swiftly and fully reverse the Trump administration's
> reckless designation of the Houthis as a foreign terrorist
> organization."—Rep. Ro Khanna*
>
> The senator added that "by honoring the bipartisan War Powers Resolution
> that the previous president vetoed, President Biden has shown a commitment
> to restoring authority over war where the framers of the U.S. Constitution
> placed it: with the Congress."
>
> Pocan, one of the lawmakers who contributed to the effort to halt U.S.
> participation in the war, on Thursday tweeted
> <https://twitter.com/repmarkpocan/status/1357389832281067522>: "This is a
> huge win—led by the work of the Congressional Progressive Caucus—demanding
> for years that America ends its complicity in the Saudi war in Yemen and
> the human rights disaster that has resulted."
>
> Hassan El-Tayyab, legislative manager for Middle East policy at the
> Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL), called
> <https://twitter.com/HassanElTayyab/status/1357382080276164611>the Biden
> administration's decision "the result of years of activism from Yemeni
> Americans and grassroots activists all over the world. Congrats to lovers
> of peace everywhere who know #YemenCantWait
> <https://twitter.com/hashtag/YemenCantWait?src=hashtag_click>."
>
> CodePink's Benjamin hopes
> <https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2021/02/04/codepink-applauds-bidens-decision-end-us-support-war-yemen>
> "Biden's announcement marks the beginning of the end of this horrific war."
>
> "We will be closely following the activities of the new envoy Timothy
> Lenderking in negotiating a peace process," she said, "and will push the
> Biden administration to increase U.S. aid to help repair the damages caused
> by our devastating participation in this war."
>
> To that end, Khanna, another leader in the anti-war fight, said
> <https://khanna.house.gov/media/press-releases/statement-khanna-hails-biden-withdrawal-saudi-war-yemen>in
> a statement that "in addition to ending U.S. military, logistics, and
> intelligence support for the Saudi coalition, the U.S. must cease
> involvement in the Saudi-led de-facto blockade of Yemen that has helped
> push millions of Yemenis to the brink of starvation."
>
> "We should also swiftly and fully reverse the Trump administration's
> reckless designation of the Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization,"
> the lawmaker added. "It's critical we ensure Yemeni civilians have access
> to the food, medicine, fuel, and other necessities on which they rely."
>
>
>
> *Visit:  https://murphyslog.ca <https://murphyslog.ca/>*
> *Follow on Twitter:  @BrianKMurphy2 *
>
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> ** Inspired by the World Social Forum, WSMDiscuss – the successor to a
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> self-organising forum for the exchange of information and views on the
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